Herding Cats

Honest, Amusing, Entertaining, and Educational

I found this book by chance and chose it as a sort of research item since I've been writing a lot of characters who are parents lately but don't have any children??of my own. With a title like Herding Cats and the adorably amusing cover, I figured it would be an enjoyable reading experience instead of a boring and clinical one. And you know what? I was right!

The tone of this book is almost like having a conversation with a new friend who's catching you up to speed on what it's like to be a parent - or commiserating, if you happen to already be one. It's light and refreshing, funny and entertaining, yet also bluntly honest in a very relatable way. No punches are pulled on how gross and infuriating life can be for a parent of multiple toddlers, but no love is withheld either when explaining why all the trials and tribulations are worthwhile.

Reading this book felt like a journey through someone's blog or family YouTube channel: fun and fascinating glimpses into real lives, maybe a little polished to be palatable for entertainment but always with the undercurrent of honesty and realism. I was very entertained and sped through reading because I never wanted to put it down. I greatly enjoyed Whitney's honesty and sense of humour - and the way she manages to convey the individual personalities of each child featured in the anecdotes without having to give long-winded explanations.

On the technical level, I only have two gripes: One, the footnotes aren't tappable and thus by time I reach them at the end of each chapter I've already forgotten context and why I should care. (That's a shame, because many of them are hilarious or even educational - such as the one which led me to learn about embryo adoption's existence - so it's sad to think some readers may skip them.) And two, the phrase “could care less” was used when “couldn't care less” is the technically correct version. Are one typo and me not wanting to flip pages to find footnotes worthy of docking a star, though? I debated it, but ultimately decided the answer is no. I loved this book, overall. It deserves all five!